How about that 4th of July Celebration! It sure was a great day in our town.

I would like to use this space to offer a huge thank you to the staff at the Port of Kingston for all of the dedicated work they do to get our park and property ready for the big party. Then, just a few hours later, everything is put back together again so it looks as though nothing out of the ordinary ever happened. I think I am speaking for the entire community when I say that we appreciate all of the wonderful dedicated work that the staff does on a daily basis.

The summer concerts are up and running and beverages are flowing in the Rotary Beer Garden. There are still great Saturday evenings left for us to get together down at the port and enjoy our summertime. It seems to me that there are a few more vendors in the Farmers Market each week. The music lineup at the market has also been very enjoyable this year.

The marina has been filled with visiting boaters almost every weekend since Memorial Day and there are even many weekday evenings that find us nearly half full at midweek. The word is out. Kingston is a great place to visit in your boat.

Last week, the Kingston Cove Yacht Club hosted the annual picnic for the International Order of the Blue Gavel. The only way one can become a member of this group is to have been a commodore of their own yacht club. It is always an interesting group to get together with. We have one member of that group named Noah. He is about 95 years old and sharp as a tack.

Crabbing has been pretty good lately, too. There are some very productive spots out there, and a few are not so good.

Now, it is salmon time! A friend of mine caught and released a 28-pounder last week. Now, that’s exciting.

You might have noticed that we have cleared all of the old brush and dead shrubs off the old Kingston Inn property. In case you haven’t heard, that property was acquired by the port as a gift through an anonymous donor working through the Kitsap Community Foundation. As requested by the donor, the property will be developed into a park for the enjoyment of the residents and visitors to Kingston.

Initially, we will place some plantings, lawn and flower beds to keep the dust down and make the property more attractive. Throughout the fall and winter, a series of public meetings will be organized to get your input as to how the final development of this park will proceed. I think that this will mark the beginning of upper Washington Boulevard being developed into a very nice gateway to our town. I am thinking Christmas lights!

Nautical Term
This month’s Nautical Term is part geometry, part astronomy and very nautical. It is “Octant”: A device used when measuring the altitude of celestial bodies for purposes of navigation. The octant has an angular field of 45 degrees, rather than the 60-degree field of the more common sextant. Both devices derive their names from the portion of a circle represented by their arc. 360-degrees divided by 8 (Octant) equals 45-degrees. 360-degrees divided by 6 (SEXtant) equals 60-degrees.

So there you have it, another month of news from down at the port. I hope you found something interesting or informative here. I appreciate you taking a few minutes to read this stuff. Enjoy the rest of the summer and I will be seeing you around town.

— Pete DeBoer is a Kingston port commissioner. Contact him at pete@petedeboer.com.